The US marketplace has observed a dramatic improvement in customer experience over the past year, reports Forrester.
For businesses to stand ahead of their peers in the post-Coronavirus world, improved
customer experience (CX) program is highly crucial. Forrester has published its latest report titled, “The US Customer Experience Index, 2020” on how brands can create or build enhanced customer loyalty with the value of their practice. The Forrester CX Index study is based on a survey of over 97,000 US customers spanning 250 brands and 14 sectors.
As per the report, about 27% of organizations have improved their CX Index count over the
past year. This is a significant leap, when compared with the previous year’s mark, by
minimal gains. Besides, nine different sectors gained notably higher scores. The aspects
contributing to the surge in CX scores in 2020 include – marketers prioritizing high-impact
projects, converting CX projects spanning the organization, securing executive buy-in, and
creating experiences that could emotionally resonate with the audience.
Forrester revealed that the number of brands with better scores has jumped 3% points to
20% – which is the most significant gain in the last five years. The first 5% of brands that
reached the top across industries are Lexus, Navy Federal Credit Union, Lincoln, USAA, and
Zappos.com. As noted by Sharyn Leaver, Senior VP of Research at Forrester, “To emerge successfully from this global crisis, brands must build experiences that help them engage with their customers at an emotional level…Brands can build a well of CX equity if they embrace a disciplined approach to envisioning, designing, and delivering a consistently high- quality experience. When consumer spending resumes, brands with experiences that
engender customer loyalty, will benefit the most.”
Turning Customer Presence into Customer Loyalty
Most businesses have adapted to the evolving consumer behavior with the uncertainties
linked to COVID-19. The focus was on designing experiences that would help brands to
engage with their target audience for bolstering customer loyalty empathetically. While
most businesses only improved the skills they deliver, some brands have differentiated
themselves by meeting the customers’ needs regularly. Thus, it can be concluded such high- performing brands have made a reservoir of goodwill and CX equity with their audience. This will provide them the freedom to try out and fumble with little ramifications in the future.
Consumer Behavior-Understanding it with Big Social Data
As more organizations try to innovate their offerings for meeting the customer needs in a
post-pandemic world, this tactic will be highly vital. As per Forrester, a minor improvement
in a company’s customer experience quality can get revenue of tens of millions of dollars –
by lowering the customer churn and uplifting the share of wallet. Furthermore, a superior
CX strategy can lead to reduced service costs and more customer engagement!